Eclipse

While a certain coupe over at Dodge is going to garner the lion's share of attention in Chicago next week, there are other reveals scheduled. Yesterday brought news that a facelifted Mitsubishi Galant will appear. It's about as noticeable and inspiring as the pre-facelift Galant, so we'll forgive if you happen to have missed it. The big Mitsu won't be alone in its booth, however. For 2009, the Eclipse also gets an update, mostly in the form of a facelift that apes the front end of the Lancer Evolution. Gone is the monochrome look, replaced by a darkened trapezoidal maw in the grille area. Out back, a diffuser-style insert takes up residence in the rear bumper (at least of the GT V6 model). The interior is essentially unchanged, and a new dual exhaust for the V6 adds 2 horsepower and 2 lb-ft of torque for a grand total of 265 hp/262 lb-ft. All well and good, but we'd still take a Lancer Ralliart over this any day.

Galant

Mitsubishi will officially unveil the freshened-for-2009 Galant sedan at the Chicago Auto Show next week, but we can show you now what changes are in store for the mid-size four-door. The 2009 Mitsubishi Galant is marked by new exterior styling that, while not revolutionary, is just enough of a change to say the look is new. The front end features a cleaner design than the '08 model by dropping Mitsubishi's short-lived split grille for a more traditional one that spans uninterrupted across the Galant's face. The new hood gets some sharp creases and the lower intake has been changed and features new fog lights on either side. Big changes have occurred out back, too, where there are new rear taillights that necessitated a slight change in the rear fenders' shape, as well. Though Mitsubishi told us the interior had been updated too, the only difference we could see was a new shifter gate.

The 2009 Mitsubish Galant will be offered in four versions: the top-shelf Ralliart model, V6 Sport (shown), four-cylinder Sport edition and the four-cylinder ES. The Ralliart is still powered by a 3.8L MIVEC V6 producing 258 HP and uses a 5-speed Sportronic automatic transmission. The Galant V6 Sport gets a 230-HP 3.8L V6, while the two remaining models are powered by a 160-HP 2.4L MIVEC four-cylinder. The V6 models get a 5-speed Sportronic automatic, while the four-cylinders made do with four-speeds. The two Sport models (both V6 and four-cylinder versions) also feature a power glass sunroof and heated cloth front seats as standard equipment.

It would appear that Mitsubishi is banking on the Galant's new sheetmetal alone to move more metal off the dealer lots, but with more customer traffic in showrooms thanks to successful redesigns of the Outlander and Lancer, its plan just might work.